Screen Test mammogram bus has higher turnout than previous years

 

From January 9 to 21, Screen Test, part of the Alberta Breast Screen Program which is also part of Alberta Health Services, was parked at the Whitecourt Health Care Centre providing free mammogram screening for local area women. The program just celebrated its 25^th anniversary last year and regularly visits about 120 rural communities throughout the province each year. Thanks in great part to the fact that they provide the service to communities without regular mammogram screening services, they find roughly 1,000 breast cancers a year, especially in women who haven’t been screened before.

In the recent past, an average of 300 local women took advantage of the event each year but this year the numbers are up, with over 340 bookings.  Screen Test Community Co-ordinator, Harmony McRae, says there are a couple of reasons for the increase. “I think people have a better awareness of the importance of breast cancer screening and it’s kind of becoming more normalized now. We’re also seeing more women who are age eligible, so 50 and above, because as our population ages there are more women who are becoming eligible.”

The target group for Screen Test is women aged 50 to 74. “They should get screened every two years because that’s the group where we actually find most breast cancers, so they are the most likely to benefit from screening.  We actually find about 80 per cent of breast cancers in that age group.  Younger women, age 40 to 49, have the option to start and they should discuss the risks and benefits of screening with their doctor. They will need a doctor’s referral in order to get their first mammogram.” said Harmony.

For women 75 and over, “a lot of people don’t realize that the risk of breast cancer increases as you age, it doesn’t go down, so if you’re considered in good health you should talk to your doctor about whether its right for you to continue screening.”

There are many different signs of breast cancer and women can find them on www.screeningforlife.ca which is the Screen Test website. Along with risks and benefits, women can also use the site to find screening events near them. “You can actually put in your postal code and it will tell you the closest screening facility to you,” says McRae, but strongly urges women who believe they have a breast issue “don’t wait for us to come back.  Definitely get that checked by a doctor right away.”

Of the many signs of breast cancer, Harmony says the most common one is a lump but that there are many different ones to watch out for including “unusual nipple discharge, unusual change in the shape or size of the breast, and change in the skin texture of the breast. There are different things that women should be looking for and our site is really good because it goes over the different changes that women should look for between their visits.”

Like many things, there are misconceptions surrounding mammograms with of the biggest being pain. Equipment of years past required more compression of breast tissue in order to get a better picture making it more uncomfortable but, as Harmony explains, things are different now. “We have the digital mammography equipment on the trailer which is state of the art, so that means we don’t have to compress the tissue so hard. It’s actually not that bad now and most women that we see say a pap test is worse. We encourage women who have any issue with discomfort to talk to the tech who will help you get more comfortable.”

Another misconception is that if you don’t have a family history of breast cancer, you aren’t at risk. “The majority who are diagnosed have no family history so about 80 per cent of all cancers that are found are in women with no family history so it’s really important to be screened.”

Women might not realize that it is no longer recommended to self-check their breasts, “It’s not evidence-based any longer. Instead they should get their doctors to check their breasts every year as part of their regular physical exam,” said Harmony.

The point of screening is ultimately for early detection. “It has been shown in clinical trials that it can actually find a breast cancer two to three years before that cancer becomes large enough to be felt by a woman or her doctor.” said Harmony. This alone shows why repeat screenings are pivotal as it will show small changes in the breast tissue and help find those initial stages of breast cancer. “The treatment options are so much better (when breast cancer is found early) and that’s one of the reasons that most women, about 90 per cent, are now surviving their cancer diagnoses. So make sure it’s part of your regular screening that you go for a mammogram just like a regular pap test and things like that.”

Pap tests were also provided during the clinic. “Whitecourt has a great community health nurse out there (Terry Brooks) and she arranged to do that for a couple of days. It’s definitely a service that we try to help provide if we can. We facilitate it and the community health staff provides the service.”

Screen Test will be in Barrhead and Athabasca a little later in the year. If you missed the Whitecourt event, you can call 1-800-667-0604 to make an appointment.